In June 2025 Romania’s National Gambling Office (ONJN) sent formal notices to Meta and Google demanding that they take down sponsored ads promoting gambling sites on the ONJN blacklist. Under OUG 77/2009, promoting unlicensed gambling is a contravention fined RON 50,000–100,000 (roughly €10,000–€20,000), and the proceeds can be confiscated. The move put the world’s two largest ad platforms on notice that “we only host the ad” is not a defense in Romania.
What ONJN asked Meta and Google to do
The ads ran on Facebook and Instagram and in Google Search, and linked to domains already on Romania’s official blacklist of unauthorized sites. ONJN asked both companies to:
- suspend the sponsored campaigns promoting those sites immediately;
- investigate the advertiser accounts behind them;
- disclose who ran the campaigns and the revenue earned from them;
- introduce safeguards so the same advertisers cannot return.
The notice did not itself impose a fine on either platform. Its weight lay in the request for advertiser identities and revenue data, which ONJN can use to pursue the operators and intermediaries behind the ads.
The legal exposure
OUG 77/2009 reserves gambling in Romania to operators holding an ONJN license and an annual operating authorization. Promoting gambling offered without them carries:
- a fine of RON 50,000 to 100,000 per contravention;
- confiscation of the amounts obtained from the promotion;
- for payment providers, hosts, affiliates and IT suppliers that knowingly service an unlicensed operator, possible criminal liability.
The practical consequence for platforms is that an algorithmic ad system that approves gambling creatives without checking the advertiser’s license is a compliance gap, not a neutral pipe.
ONJN under its own scrutiny
The notices came a few months after a damaging audit. On 21 February 2025 the Court of Accounts reported that ONJN had:
- licensed online operators without installing the secure terminal it needed to access their Romanian mirror and backup servers;
- not checked operators’ monthly authorization-fee declarations, missing about RON 78.9 million in fee differences for 2022 and 2023;
- accrued, with interest and penalties to December 2024, roughly RON 116 million in total exposure for those two years;
- carried out no tax inspections of online operators between 2014 and 2023.
The auditors also flagged a risk that operators had declared lower return-to-player rates than they actually ran, which on their estimate could put far larger amounts at stake. The audit opinion on ONJN’s compliance was adverse.
Why it mattered for the industry
Platforms are now part of the enforcement chain
Romania was signaling that ad platforms would be expected to verify licensure before taking gambling money. Operators and agencies that relied on lax ad review to reach Romanian players lost that route.
Unlicensed operators lose distribution
Blacklisting already blocked domains at the internet-service-provider level. Cutting off paid acquisition on Google and Meta removes the next most important channel.
Affiliates sit in the middle
Most of the illegal ads were placed by affiliates and media buyers. In Romania they need a Class 2 license, and they are the easiest party for ONJN to identify once the platforms hand over account data.
What applies now (2026)
The rules have tightened since June 2025:
- Blacklist powers. Law 141/2025, in force since 1 August 2025, strengthened ONJN’s blacklist powers. ONJN’s list held 2,881 domains on 25 September 2026.
- Suppliers. Class 2 licensees, including affiliates, payment providers and hosts, may not serve unlicensed operators that target Romania or domains on the blacklist.
- Influencers. The CNA Audiovisual Code (CNA Decision 573/2025) bans gambling ads featuring public figures or people whose online notoriety could encourage gambling.
- Advertising tax. Licensed operators pay a 5% contribution on the value of their advertising contracts.
- Pending. In February 2026 the Senate passed a bill banning online gambling ads between 06:00 and 24:00 and the use of public figures in gambling promotion on any platform. The Chamber of Deputies, the decisional chamber, had not voted it at our last check. We cover it in Romania’s 21+ and online ad blackout proposals.
- Leadership. ONJN has changed leadership again: Vlad-Cristian Soare, who led the office when these notices went out, was dismissed in August 2026 and replaced by Valentin-Ioan Tomescu. The enforcement policy toward illegal advertising has not been withdrawn.
Platform enforcement has continued well past the 2025 notices. Our follow-up on the black market and ONJN’s work with Google, Meta and TikTok covers the later steps.
What operators, affiliates and agencies should do
- Audit live campaigns and affiliate placements for any link to an unlicensed or blacklisted domain.
- Keep license evidence ready for platform advertiser verification: ONJN license number, authorization and domain list.
- Put license warranties, traffic audits and fast takedown clauses in affiliate contracts.
- Check that responsible-gambling messaging and self-exclusion links appear where the law requires them.
If you supply or promote gambling in Romania, the starting point is the right license. Our Romania licensing overview explains the Class 1 and Class 2 routes, and our compliance service covers advertising and affiliate reviews.